Beans, beans the magical fruit the more you eat the more you…..okay you know how the rhyme goes. Beans are a great source of protein and nutrients but for many people eating beans does a real number on their stomachs. The cause of the gas is from a sugar in the beans and it is easily preventable. Here are a few ways to make beans give you less gas:
1. Make sure if you are using dry beans to soak them for at least 8 hours and then make sure when you do cook them that they are cooked in fresh water until soft. Do not add salt to the water. Alternatively for canned beans make sure to rinse them to remove all the salt and then I recommend cooking them in a little vegetable broth for 10 minutes.
2. Refried beans, not the healthiest; these beans that have been cooked once and then cooked a second time with some sort of fat weather margarine, oil or vegetable shortening. The fat helps to balance that sugar causing gas.
3. Do not eat fruit with beans such as tomatoes.
4. Eat rice and beans- whole grains and beans are a great combination and civilizations have been pairing these two things for hundreds of years- this is proof that they are a wonderful combination.
5. My favorite thing to do is add seaweed, specifically kombu to my beans when I am either boiling them from dry or even with canned when I do a second mini cook. Additionally adding seaweed will provide a number of essential minerals and is a great detoxifier; I also love to add it to my grains (don’t worry if it makes you squeamish you don’t have to eat it to get the benefits and it doesn’t make your grains or beans taste funny).
I would recommend that if you shy away from beans because of their “magical properties” that you test out these 5 easy tips and see how your body feels. Everyone’s body is different so if one suggestion doesn’t work for you move on to the next.
Below are a few of my favorite bean recipes:
Three Bean Burgers
2 cups of black eyed peas, kidney beans, and chickpeas
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2-3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2t chili powder
1/2t cumin
1/4t garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1T hot sauce (I used VT Pepperworks Chocolate Chipotle)
Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Mash the beans up and add in the spices, chickpea flour, panko breadcrumbs and hot sauce. Form the patties into 1/4 cup patties and bake for 10 minutes on each side.
Creamy Mashed White Beans
2 cans Cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
8-10 oil packed sundried tomatoes, chopped small
5 scallions, chopped small
3T vegan cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1t garlic powder
Add all ingredients to a pan over medium heat and mash with a potato masher. Mix everything together and then heat until warmed
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Very funny that you mention this, beans have such a bad reputation. I normally cook dried beans, and I’ve heard that if you skim off the froth that forms at the top of the cooking liquid that can help too. I never have heard about avoiding tomatoes and fruit – that might be a difficult one to abide by.
Cannelini beans are a favorite for me – I’ll have to try your mash.
Great post. I love beans. I just started using my rice cooker for dry lentils and plan to try dry beans in it as well. (note to self, soak beans today!)
Hey Vegan Lover, I just found you on F.B.-I haven’t been there for a while (oops). Your three bean burger sounds delicious! I’ve been meaning to make a bean burger. I’m going to look at your recipe more closely;)